Playing for the full 80 minutes and being consistent will go a long way towards beating South Sydney according to Manly Warringah Coach Geoff Toovey.
The Sea Eagles’ clash with South Sydney at Brookvale Oval this Friday night is set to be one of the biggest games of the year with Toovey’s men just one win outside the top eight in 11th place. The Rabbitohs sit in fourth position.
“Souths just wear you down, wear you down, and finally get you to break,’’ Toovey said.
“We need to be consistent and be relentless for the full 80 minutes which has let us down a couple of times this year."
Toovey said talk of ‘doing it for him’ in his final season at the club was not a motivating factor in the team’s late push to make the finals.
“They are professional athletes and their desire is to win. It has been a challenging year on and off the field,’’ he said.
“We are all used to winning here at Manly and we are back on track now. People seem to forget we were equal first last year at the end of the season and missed out on the minor premiership on for and against points.
“Making the finals is not only important to me but I like to see the players achieve their best every year.
“They are a very focus group and they have been consistent for the last 10 years. Once we get there, and we are pretty positive we will, we will put on a good show. There will be a few teams looking over their shoulders.”
Toovey is confident centre Steve Matai will return from concussion providing he passes a few tests at the team’s final training run today.
The Sea Eagles attracted their biggest home crowd of the season at last week’s Gosford match with over 16,000 attending to witness the big win over the Broncos.
The club is hoping their army of supporters will break that record at their spiritual home ground of Brookvale Oval for the Souths clash, especially with the return of former Sea Eagles stalwart Glenn Stewart for the first time. Plenty of tickets are still available.
Match Day Information
Rd 22 NRL: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles v South Sydney Rabbitohs, Brookvale Oval, Friday August 7.
Times
Gates Open: 5.15pm
Holden Cup: 5.20pm
NRL: 7.30pm
Ticketing
Phone Ticketmaster on 136100.
